Following Bangladesh’s facile eight-wicket loss against South Africa in the first ODI at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday, many cited skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza’s decision to bat first as one of the reasons why the Tigers came up short.
South African right-arm paceman Kagiso Rabada did record miserly bowling figures of 6/16 from his eight overs, including a hat-trick and three maidens, but some believe the first ODI story could have been different had the Tigers bowled first under the overcast conditions and on a pitch that was damp following persistent rain in the last couple of days.
Mashrafe however, defended his decision in the post-match press conference, informing that he was unaware that the pitch would have so much swing for the faster bowlers.
“The toss is never a captain’s decision alone. It comes after discussions between the coach and the senior members of the team. But, I wonder why deciding to bat first has become an issue in the first place. I do not think anyone out there saw the ball swinging when we went out to bat first. The situation then could have been different,” said Mashrafe.
Mashrafe instead blamed his side’s batting department and said the wicket had something to offer for the batsmen which they failed to capitalise.
“I think our mentality was not right when we went out to bat. If the wicket was bad then Shakib [al Hasan] or Soumya [Sarkar] could not have got starts and scored those runs. The real issue is, we are not batting up to the mark,” explained the Bangladesh ODI and Twenty20 captain.
“A few of our batsmen got out despite getting a good start and getting set. They will be the ones who can explain you the reason as to why they gave away their wickets. I think we should come out of this situation as soon as possible.
“We always say one should finish the job if he gets the start but that’s not happening. We need to change our mentality and try to sustain in the middle if there is a good start,” he said.